Quick release base and mounting bracket for napkin dispenser

ABSTRACT

A countertop mounting base and bracket for a napkin dispenser includes a base with a generally planar upper surface provided with a sidewall having a stepped locking recess adapted to cooperate with a stepped tongue of a mounting bracket which is secured directly to the counter. The base and bracket allow for the quick release of a gravity feed napkin dispenser, for example, mounted on the countertop.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates generally to napkin dispensers and in apreferred embodiment to a gravity feed countertop mounted napkindispenser having a base secured to a countertop with a quick releasemounting bracket.

BACKGROUND ART

Dispensers for napkins including inter-folded napkins are well known inthe art. Typically such dispensers are spring-loaded dispensers as isshown, for example, in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,838,454 to Salzmann et al.This class of dispensers are typically placed on a countertop. There isshown in the '454 patent a napkin dispenser including a drawer whichslides in and out of the housing and a push plate which also slides inthe housing and is spring-biased to push the napkins forward. A pair oflocks on the rear of the drawer in the preferred napkin dispenser pushesthe plate forward when the drawer is open but pivot to release the pushplate when the drawer is closed so the napkins are not pressed tootightly, even if napkins are overloaded in the drawer when it is open.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,679,703 to De Luca discloses a napkin dispenserconfigured to reduce bunching at the dispensing opening in the napkindispenser. A pair of pressure relief rods are provided along the upperand lower portions of the dispenser face plate to relieve pressurebetween the face plate and the center portion of the napkin stack.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,343,415 to Radek shows a napkin dispenser designed fordisposition on a restaurant table or counter housing a stack of papernapkins. The dispenser is in the form of a parallelepiped with a topaxis opening for loading and removing napkins. The opening is generallyrectangular or may taper slightly from one end to the other. A salientfeature is that the edges of the opening extend outwardly providing arelatively narrow peripheral arcuate flange or lip around the opening,the effect of which is to lead a napkin gently outwardly withoutlikelihood of damage to the exiting napkins.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,311,252 to Hope, Jr. et al. discloses a large capacityelevator type napkin dispenser including an elongated supportingstructure or cage composed of series of spaced rod-like verticalsupports. A stack of folded napkins is supported on a pressure platethat is mounted on a carriage adapted to slide vertically within thecage, whereas U.S. Pat. No. 4,094,442, also to Radek discloses a napkindispenser provided with an aperture which is generally rectangularexcept for a concavely arcuate edge on one side from which the napkinsare normally extracted. Two opposed sides of the opening normal to thearcuate edge are provided with a pair of relatively narrow spring-biasedleaves resiliently extendable into the container to facilitate loading,the free edges of the leaves being longitudinally gently oblique andwidening to the aforesaid arcuate edge. Each of the leaves has alongitudinal outwardly turned lip and the exposed corners of the leavesare rounded. The features are reported to contribute towards aconvenient extraction of a napkin without damage.

As will be appreciated from the foregoing, spring-biased dispensers areprone to overfilling and malfunction and may damage product if thedispensers are misused. Gravity feed dispensers are simpler and lesssubject to malfunction; however they are more difficult to convenientlylocate in establishments which require countertop access to the napkins.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

There is provided generally in accordance with the invention acountertop mounting base and bracket for releasably securing a napkindispenser attached to the base. The mounting system includes a basehaving a generally planar upper surface and a sidewall extendingdownwardly therefrom to define a hollow cavity and also defining astepped locking recess having an upper portion with a first recess widthand a lower portion with a second recess width where the upper lockingrecess width is smaller than the lower locking recess width. The base isalso provided with a plurality of locking projections in the hollowcavity having locking shoulders thereon each of which has acharacteristic locking shoulder width. The base cooperates with amounting bracket provided with means for attaching the bracket to acountertop. The bracket has a raised central locking surface providedwith a moveable tongue adapted to flex with respect to the lockingsurface from a locking position to a release position. The tongue isprovided with a stepped outer profile defining an outer width which isless than equal to the upper recess width of the base. The tongue alsohas a locking width which is greater than the upper recess width of thebase, the locking surface of the mounting bracket being further providedwith a plurality of locking slots with open portions having widths atleast as great as a corresponding characteristic width of a lockingshoulder of a corresponding locking projection of the base. The lockingslots of the locking surface also have elongated narrow portions withwidths smaller than corresponding characteristic widths of lockingshoulders of locking projections of the base. The base and mountingbracket are configured such that the locking projections of the base maybe inserted into the open portions of the locking slots and the baseslid into the locking position with the bracket wherein the shoulders ofthe locking projections of the base are secured from verticaltranslation away from the locking position by the elongated narrowportions of the locking slots of the raised central locking surface ofthe mounting bracket. The base is concurrently prevented from horizontaltranslation away from the locking position by the locking width of thetongue until the tongue is flexed downwardly to its release position.

Typically the base further includes a post for mounting a napkindispenser, such as a gravity feed napkin dispenser of the general classdisclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/213,575, filed Aug. 7,2002, entitled “Gravity-Feed Dispenser and Method of DispensingInter-Folded Napkins”the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated byreference. So also, in a preferred embodiment the mounting bracket isstamped from sheet metal and the base is cast from white metal.

Generally, the tongue requires a force of from about 2 to about 10pounds to move it from the locking position to the release position. Inthe locking position, the tongue may be generally co-planar with theraised locking surface of the mounting bracket or it may be elevatedslightly in portions if so desired. Typically, the tongue requires aforce of from about 4 to about 6 pounds to move it from the lockingposition to the release position.

In a preferred embodiment the assembly of the bracket and base includesbiasing means to urge the base and bracket into engagement with eachother in the locking position. The biasing means may be, for example,upwardly raised portions defined on the mounting bracket and downwardlyprojecting ridges on the base located within the hollow cavity. Thereare optionally provided guide ridges on the base as describedhereinafter. The upper portion of the stepped locking recess of the basetypically has an L-shaped profile as does a lower portion of the steppedlocking recess of the base. The stepped outer profile of the tongue isalso generally L-shaped on both sides and may include an arcuate centralportion at the end of the tongue.

A particularly preferred arrangement is a countertop mounting base andbracket for releasably securing a napkin dispenser including a base witha generally planar upper surface and a sidewall extending downwardlytherefrom to define a hollow cavity wherein there is provided aplurality of downwardly extending vertical ribs including at least twolongitudinally extending mounting ribs each of which is provided with atleast one engagement ridge thereon. The sidewall also defines a steppedlocking recess having an upper portion with a first recessed width and alower portion with a second recessed width where the upper recessedwidth is smaller than the lower recessed width. A base is furtherprovided with a plurality of locking projections in the hollow cavityhaving locking shoulders each of which has a characteristic lockingshoulder width.

The mounting bracket is provided with means for securing it to thecountertop as well as at least two longitudinal guide tracks each ofwhich has at least one raised engagement portion for interacting withthe engagement ridges of the mounting ribs of the base. The bracketfurther includes a raised central locking surface between thelongitudinal guide tracks provided with a moveable tongue adapted toflex with respect to the locking surface from a locking position to arelease position, the tongue being provided with a stepped outer profiledefining an outer width which is less than equal to the upper recesswidth of the base and a locking width which is greater than the upperrecessed width of the base. The locking surface of the mounting bracketis still further provided with a plurality of locking slots with openportions having widths at least as great as the correspondingcharacteristic widths of the locking shoulders of the lockingprojections of the base and elongated narrow portions having widthssmaller than corresponding characteristic widths of locking shoulders oflocking projections of the base. The base and mounting bracket areconfigured such that the locking projections on the base may be insertedinto the open portions of the locking slots and the base slid into thelocking position with the bracket wherein the shoulders of the lockingprojections of the base are secured from translation away from thelocking position by the elongated narrow portions of the locking slotsof the raised central locking surface of the mounting bracket. The baseis prevented from horizontal translation away from the locking positionby the locking width of the tongue until the tongue is flexed downwardlyto its release position. In this preferred embodiment the engagementridges of the base and the raised engagement portions of the mountingbracket urge the mounting bracket and the base into engagement with eachother. The engagement portions of the mounting bracket are preferablyarcuate portions of the guide tracks of the mounting bracket.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The invention is described in detail below with reference to the variousFigures in which like numerals designate similar parts and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a gravity feed napkin dispenser mountedon a countertop with the mounting base and bracket in accordance withthe present invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded view in perspective showing the inventive base andmounting bracket of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is another exploded view in perspective showing the inventivemounting base and bracket of FIG. 1; and

FIGS. 4-6 are schematic views in perspective of another embodiment ofthe mounting base and bracket of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The invention is described in detail below in connection with severalembodiments. Such description is for purposes of illustration andexemplification only. Variants to the embodiments illustrated within thespirit and scope of the present invention, set forth in the appendedclaims, will be readily apparent to those of skill in the art.

Referring to FIGS. 1-3 there is shown a gravity feed napkin dispenser 10mounted on a post 12 secured to a mounting base 14 configured inaccordance with the present invention. Mounting base 14, in turn, issecured to a mounting bracket 16 as appears in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3. Napkindispenser 10 may be of the class described in co-pending applicationSer. No. 10/213,575, filed Aug. 7, 2002 entitled “Gravity-Feed Dispenserand Method of Dispensing Inter-Folded Napkins” . The post upon whichnapkin dispenser 10 is mounted maybe secured to base 14 by way of screws18 and 20 provided with washers 22 and 24.

Base 14 is provided with a plurality of ridges such as transverse ribs26 and 28, guide ridges 27, 29 as well as longitudinal ribs 30 and 32.Ribs 30 and 32 are provided with ridges 34, 36, 38 and 40 as can be seenin FIG. 3. There is also provided on the base a plurality of lockingprojections in the form of fasteners 42, 44, and 46 each of which has ashaft 48, a shaft 50 and a shaft 52 as well as a head 54, a head 56 anda head 58. Fasteners may be screws or bolts or the like which are fittedto be secured in holes 60, 62 and 64 respectively defined on base 14.The fastener operates as locking projections as will become apparentfrom the discussion which follows.

The base is further provided with a stepped recess 66 which has L-shapedprofiles at his lower portion 68 and its upper portion 70 as is bestseen in FIG. 3. Note that the width of the upper portion of recess 66indicated at 72 is less than the width of the lower portion of recess 66indicated at 74.

The base is specifically designed to cooperate with the countertopmounting bracket 16. Mounting bracket 16 has a left track 76 and a righttrack 78 each of which has a pair of arcuate projections 80, 82, 84, and86 which interact with the ridges 34, 36, 38 and 40 of the base in orderto urge the bracket and mounting base into contact with each other whenthe base is secured to the bracket. The bracket is further provided witha raised central portion 88 which has a tongue 90 as well as lockingslots 92, 94 and 96. There are further provided guide slots 95, 97 oneither side of the tongue. The mounting bracket is secured to acountertop 98 by way of screws such as screw 100 or by way of doublesided tape indicated at 102 and 104. Note that tongue 90 also has astepped profile at its portion 106 notably having L-shaped profile oneither of its side at 108 and 110.

In order to secure the napkin dispenser to countertop 98 the mountingbracket 16 is first secured to the countertop. Base 14 optionallyprovided with mounting post 14 and napkin dispenser 10 is secured to themounting bracket by way of fasteners 42, 46 and 48. That is to say, thefasteners are first inserted into the open portions 106, 108 and 110 ofslots 92, 94, and 96 and then the entire base is slid rearwardly in thedirection indicated by arrow 120 in FIGS. 2 and 3 such that the fastenerheads will be restrained from vertical translation by the narrowportions 112, 114, and 116 of slots 92, 94 and 96. When the base is slidrearwardly into the locking position shown in FIG. 1 the stepped profileof tongue 90 prevents the base from sliding forwardly to the releaseposition until tongue 90 is pressed downwardly in the directionindicated by arrow 122. That is to say tongue 90 by virtue of the factthat its width at 124 is wider than the width 72 of the upper portion ofthe locking recess of base 14 prevents horizontal translation of thebase away from the locking position shown in FIG. 1 until tongue 90 ispressed downwardly in the direction indicated by arrow 122 to a releaseposition where the width 124 is below the upper portion of slot 66 asshould be fully appreciated from FIGS. 1, 2 and 3. So also, the variousraised portions of tracks 76 and 78, that is raised portions 80, 82, 84and 86 interact with the engagement ridges 34, 36, 38 and 40 of the baseto urge the bracket and base into secure contact with one another sothat the napkin dispenser will not rock when secures to countertop 98.Preferably, width 124 of tongue 90 is larger than width 72 of the upperportion of recess 66 but smaller than width 74 of the lower portion ofstepped recess 66. In preferred embodiments, the base and bracket areurged into engagement before tongue 90 latches into place in its lockingposition in slot 66. So also, base 14 preferably includes guide ridges27, 29 which cooperate with slots 95, 97 of the mounting bracket inorder to orient the base with respect to the bracket and preventunwanted snagging of the locking projections on slots or holes while theassembly is being locked into engagement. That is to say, ridges 27, 29are configured to cooperate with slots 95, 97 in order to orient thebase with respect to the mounting bracket as the base is being engagedwith the mounting bracket.

There is shown in FIGS. 4-6 an alternate embodiment of the inventivebracket and mounting base for a napkin dispenser. The mounting base andbracket have generally the features described above in connection withthe embodiment of FIGS. 1-3. However, here mounting bracket 16 issecured to countertop 98 by way of four screws such as screws 100,located on the various corners of the mounting bracket. The mountingbracket has a raised central portion 88 which is generally planar as istongue 90. That is to say, tongue 90 is co-planar with the rest ofraised portion 88. Raised portion 88 is only provided with two slots 92and 94 having open portions 106 and 108 as well as narrow portions 112and 114. The base is provided with a stepped locking recess 66 having anupper portion and a lower portion with two L-shaped shoulders on eitherside of upper and lower parts of the stepped recess 66. That is, boththe upper portion 70 and lower portion 68 of recess 66 have L-shapedprofiles on both sides as shown. Here again the base 14 has an uppersurface and a hollow cavity 45 for mounting over bracket 16. There isoptionally provided transverse support ribs such as rib 47 to strengthenthe base. Here again tongue 90 has a pair of shoulders 128 and 130 tointeract with stepped recess 66 in order to secure the base in thelocked position until tongue 90 is pressed downwardly to release thebase so that it may be slid away from mounting bracket 16.

While the invention has been described in connection with severalembodiments, modifications of those embodiments within the spirit andscope of the present invention will be readily apparent to those ofskill in the art. The invention is defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A countertop mounting base and bracket forreleasably securing a napkin dispenser attached to the base comprising:a) a base having a generally planar upper surface and a sidewallextending downwardly therefrom to define a hollow cavity and also definea stepped locking recess having an upper portion with a first recesswidth and a lower portion with a second recess width, where the upperlocking recess width is smaller than the lower locking recessed width,the base being further provided with a plurality of locking projectionsdisposed in the hollow cavity having locking shoulders thereon each ofwhich has a characteristic locking shoulder width; b) a mounting bracketprovided with means for securing it to the countertop and a raisedcentral locking surface provided with a moveable tongue adapted to flexwith respect to the locking surface from a locking position to a releaseposition, the tongue being provided with a stepped outer profiledefining an outer width which is less than or equal to the upper recesswidth of the base and a locking width which is greater than the upperrecess width of the base, the locking surface of the mounting bracketbeing further provided with a plurality of locking slots with openportions having widths at least as great as the correspondingcharacteristic widths of locking shoulders of the locking projections ofthe base and elongated narrow portions having widths smaller thancorresponding characteristic widths of locking shoulders of lockingprojections of the base; and c) the base and mounting bracket beingconfigured such that the locking projections of the base may be insertedinto the open portions of the locking slots and the base slid into thelocking position with the bracket wherein the shoulders of the lockingprojections of the base are secured from vertical translation away fromthe locking position by the elongated narrow portions of the lockingslots of the raised central locking surface of the mounting bracket andthe base is prevented from horizontal translation away from the lockingposition by the locking width of the tongue until the tongue is flexeddownwardly to its release position.
 2. The countertop mounting base andbracket according to claim 1, further comprising a post attached to thebase for mounting a napkin dispenser.
 3. The countertop mounting baseand bracket according to claim 2, used for mounting a gravity feednapkin dispenser.
 4. The countertop mounting base and bracket accordingto claim 1, wherein the mounting bracket is stamped from sheet metal. 5.The countertop mounting base and bracket according to claim 1, whereinthe base is cast from metal.
 6. The countertop mounting base and bracketaccording to claim 1, wherein the tongue requires a force of from about2 to about 10 pounds to move it from the locking position to the releaseposition.
 7. The countertop mounting base and bracket according to claim6, wherein the tongue requires a force of from about 4 to about 6 poundsto move it from the locking position to the release position.
 8. Thecountertop mounting base and bracket according to claim 1, furthercomprising biasing means to urge the base and bracket into engagementwith each other in the locking position.
 9. The countertop mounting baseand bracket according to claim 8, wherein the biasing means areupperwardly raised portions defined on the bracket and downwardlyprojecting ridges on the base located within the hollow cavity thereof.10. The countertop mounting base and bracket according to claim 1,wherein the upper portion of the stepped locking recess of the base hasa generally L-shaped profile.
 11. The countertop mounting base andbracket according to claim 10, wherein the lower portion of the steppedlocking recess of the base has a generally L-shaped profile.
 12. Thecountertop mounting base and bracket according to claim 1, wherein thestepped outer profile of the tongue is generally L-shaped.
 13. Thecountertop mounting base and bracket according to claim 12, wherein theouter edge of the tongue is arcuate in shape.
 14. A countertop mountingbase and bracket for releasably securing a napkin dispenser comprising:a) a base having (i) a generally planar upper surface and a sidewallextending downwardly therefrom to define (ii) a hollow cavity whereinthere is provided (iii) a plurality of downwardly extending verticalribs including (iv) at least two longitudinally extending mounting ribseach of which is provided with (v) at least one engagement ridgethereon, (vi) said sidewall defining a stepped locking recess having anupper portion with a first recess width and a lower portion with asecond recess width, where the upper recess width is smaller than thelower recess width, the base being provided with (vii) a plurality oflocking projections in the hollow cavity having locking shouldersthereon each of which has a characteristic locking shoulder width; b) amounting bracket provided with (viii) means for securing it to thecountertop as well as (ix) at least two longitudinal guide tracks eachof which has at least one raised engagement portion for interacting withthe engagement ridges of the mounting ribs of the base (x) a raisedcentral locking surface between the longitudinal guide tracks providedwith (xi) a moveable tongue adapted to flex with respect to the lockingsurface from a locking position to a release position, the tongue beingprovided with (xii) a stepped outer profile defining an outer widthwhich is less than or equal to the upper recess width of the base and alocking width which is greater than the upper recess width of the base,the locking surface of the mounting bracket being further provided with(xiii) a plurality of locking slots with open portions having widths atleast as great as the corresponding characteristic widths of lockingshoulders of the locking projections of the base and elongated narrowportions having widths smaller than corresponding characteristic widthsof the locking shoulders of the locking projections of the base; and c)the base and mounting brackets being configured such that the lockingprojections of the base may be inserted into the open portions of thelocking slots and the base slid into the locking position with thebracket wherein the shoulders of the locking projections of the base aresecured from vertical translation away from the locking position by theelongated narrow portions of the locking slots of the raised centrallocking surface of the mounting bracket and the base is prevented fromhorizontal translation away from the locking position by the lockingwidth of the tongue until the tongue is flexed downwardly to its releaseposition.
 15. The countertop mounting base and bracket according toclaim 14, wherein the engagement ridges of the base and the raisedengagement portions of the mounting bracket urge the mounting bracketand the base into engagement with each other.
 16. The countertopmounting base and bracket according to claim 15, wherein the raisedengagement portions of the mounting bracket are raised arcuate portionsof the guide tracks of the mounting bracket.
 17. The countertop mountingbase and bracket according to claim 14, further comprising a postattached to the base for mounting the napkin dispenser.
 18. Thecountertop mounting base and bracket according to claim 17, used formounting a gravity feed napkin dispenser.
 19. The countertop mountingbase and bracket according to claim 14, wherein the mounting bracket isstamped from sheet metal.
 20. The countertop mounting base and bracketaccording to claim 14, wherein the base is cast from metal.
 21. Thecountertop mounting base and bracket according to claim 14, wherein thetongue requires a force of from about 2 to about 10 pounds to move itfrom the locking position to the release position.
 22. The countertopmounting base and bracket according to claim 21, wherein the tonguerequires a force of from about 4 to about 6 pounds to move it from thelocking position to the release position.
 23. The countertop mountingbase and bracket according to claim 14, wherein the upper portion of thestepped locking recess of the base has a generally L-shaped profile. 24.The countertop mounting base and bracket according to claim 23, whereinthe lower portion of the stepped locking recess of the base has agenerally L-shaped profile.
 25. The countertop mounting base and bracketaccording to claim 14, wherein the stepped outer profile of the tongueis generally L-shaped.
 26. The countertop mounting base and bracketaccording to claim 14, wherein the base further includes a pair of guideridges configured to cooperate with a pair of guide slots in themounting bracket on either side of the tongue of the mounting bracket inorder to orient the base with respect to the mounting bracket as thebase and mounting bracket are engaged to each other.